Talking, sulking, head-removing picture on the wall... who is the most popular Harry Potter character of all?

Fans of the record-breaking, tear-jerkingly finished franchise have answered in their masses, voting in a poll conducted by Empire Magazine's website.

You can click here to find out who emerged as the favourite among 8,000 readers, which seems a tiny but respectable cross-section of Harry Potter's adoring fans. Without spoiling it for you, all that can be written is that, possibly is NOT whom you expect and that Empire's Helen O'Hara explained the victory, saying the character "... seems capable of anything, and indeed is, in the end, but in a way you never expected... a most important and complex character".

Meanwhile, all the usual suspects make the top ten, with Dobby the House Elf scoring a respectable tenth position, and Hedwig (owl for the unitiated) pulling up the rear at number 25.